Social Construction Of Gender

Sex and gender are often used interchangeably in American culture, yet they have distinctly different meanings. Sex is based on a person’s biological traits, such as chromosomes and genitals, while gender is used to outline what cultural roles a person will perform. American society uses a binary system of male or female for sex and gender. Both sex and gender are integral in shaping a person’s identity. The gender and sex binary system can be detrimental to individuals who do not conform to it.

The way society is taught to be socialized is salient and goes unnoticed, therefore it is valid to claim that gender is socially constructed through our everyday practices, whether we are aware of the construction or not. With socialization beginning the instant a child is born, the process is continuous through out adolescence and varies dramatically across the two genders. With guidance from institutions and arenas such as education, sports, music and the mass media gender seems to be coerced, as it comes with a scripted set of behaviors and attitudes. This essay argues that gender is socially constructed on an everyday basis. To further explain this thesis the essay will draw on early childhood socialization of masculinity and femininity,

According to social construction theory, gender is formed by our own beliefs and actions. For instance, many people would believe a farming job would be for a male but it can also be a female job as well. Usually women do house work while men do other duties outside such as landscaping. The definition of gender clearly states ‘“ the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex or one’s sex.”’. (Lecture 3, Page 2). Many people would believe that gender has to do with gonads or reproduction organs but it actually refers how an individual clearly view themselves. A female could be born by sex but then could identify the gender as a male because in their life, there could be masculine acts involved. Other words, socially constructed also means that “society or culture creates an idea, a physical object, a

At a very young age we are introduced to a gender identity based upon the sex we were born with. Girls are associated with the color pink, dolls, nurturing tendencies, and inclined to be more emotional. While boys are associated with the color blue, the nature of masculinity, sports, and said to be more outspoken. However, gender and sex are two different things. Sex is the biological differences between female and male, while gender is social construct attached with social roles

In the article the Social Construction of Gender, Judith Lorber explains that although gender is not a biological fact, it is a concept that is expected by society, and when something unexpected comes around, society tries to push the deviating party into it’s rightful place, through punishment carried out by those empowered by the standard of gender. This punishment is not necessarily literal- it sometimes is as simple as being taught that if a person is assigned female at birth, it is their job to learn tasks that correspond with household upkeep. These consequences, implemented by the beneficiaries of the gender concept, constantly validates the notion that gender is a biological fact.

Throughout many studies, researchers have said that gender develops from families, which is part of the social construction in children. According to Coltrane and Adams, Gender is defined as “To what it means to be a man or a woman in a specific time and place” (Coltrane and Adams). People in this world think that gender is automatically part of biological sex, but according to Coltrane and Adams, it is not a direct result of biological sex. The term is defined as “to refer relatively distinct biological differences between male and females such as genitals, hormones, and chromosomes” (Coltrane and Adams). For gender it is also social and it refers to how a person thinks that someone should look, act and feel (Coltrane and Adams). On the daily life, people will usually assume that a person “is” the gender that corresponds to his or her sex: females are feminine and males are masculine (Coltrane and Adams). In addition, gender also describes how the typical man and woman are supposed to present themselves. A man presenting himself as masculine and a woman presenting herself as feminine in particular cultures (Coltrane and Adams). In other words how women should act and how men should act.

Throughout this course, we have discussed how the differences in the social construction of gender, race, class, and sexuality have led to discrimination and inequality of those classified under a variety of these categories. Through understanding the significance of these social constructs on society it becomes apparent the intersectionality they have when it comes to understanding why certain groups may face discrimination or inequality. This paper examines gender inequality and how the social construction of gender makes it difficult for the pursuit of equality amongst genders.

Many people confuse the definition of gender and sex. “Gender, on the other hand, refers to the meanings, values, and characteristics that people ascribe to different sexes. Sex is a biological concept, determined on the basis of individual 's primary sex characteristics.” (Blackstone) Society gives social cues on the appropriate behavior for each sex. For example, women are to exert more feminine traits such as being dependent, emotional, passive, innocent, nurturing, and/or self-critical. On the contrary, men should be more

Gender as a Social Construction This annotated bibliography is focused on research that supports the idea that gender has been socially constructed. Haslanger’s chapter offers an understanding of what is meant by the term ‘socially constructed’ and how gender can be defined from this viewpoint. Zimman complements Haslanger’s argument by explaining that it is our discourse that influences our perceptions of gender. Eckert and McConnell-Ginet’s chapter is helpful when explaining how gender is socially constructed by exploring how from birth we are treated and labeled according to whether we’ are male or female. This is then enriched by Hammond’s example of how infants are colour coded from the moment they’re born.

Jane Eyre: Women Oppressed    Gender is not a biological fact but a social construct.  However, so many assumptions have been made in the attempt to define the terms gender and sex that society often defines gender as being solely male and female.  The female sex has traditionally been oppressed due to inferences on physical and mental constraints that male-dominated society has imposed.  As with culture, gender socialization begins with birth and the family structure, though many believe that specific events also have a great influence on the boundaries of gender.  It has been suggested, for example, that schooling and education systems have a large responsibility in the formation of gender divisions.  Gender differences have

The word gender can be described as the state of being male or female and is typically used to describe cultural differences as opposed to biological ones. Additionally, the definition of gender has continuously been a controversial issue due to its lack of clarity in regards to battling complicated social injustices. Furthermore, the construction of gender as a social category has recently been criticized for the lack of inclusiveness to women of color and the consistent habit to view both gender and race as restrictive divisions of experience and reasoning. Seeing those criticisms has led to the development of the term intersectionality which deals with various layers of subjection that women live with and addresses more than just the

Race is a system of categories put in place by society in order to make each individual fit into a certain social group. It is due to societies implementation of such a system that individuals in these racial categories do not always look at each other as equals, causing a race to not always identify themselves as a homogenous front. This essay will delve into the poetry of a popular Def Jam spoken word artist Black Ice, whose piece Bigger Than Mine looks into the dualism within Black society in the United States with an undertone of what it means to a man. A schism as described by Black Ice being between two distinct groups, Blacks and “Niggas”.

As defined by Dalton Conley, sex, sexuality, and gender are three different things. Gender is constructed around femininity and masculinity, therefore society dictates the social norms for gender (Conley 283). Society has created the notion of femininity and masculinity. Society tells us how to be feminine or masculine and how to display these characteristics to the world, thus, making it a social construct. These notions are social constructs because they are human inventions that are widely agreed upon and differ throughout cultures, they also change over time within the context of society.

In the first place, it is important to define the word gender and differentiate it from sex. Sex is biological and contains physical and anatomical qualities that result in the biological distinction between men and women. On the contrary, gender is a construction, it has almost nothing to do with physical characteristics or with genetics. Using this as a basis, we would say that biological differences build social differences that affect social life and that create certain roles and behavioral expectations. Gender is created in the first years of the person's life, distinguishing between the male and female genders based on the different properties that the social environment attributes to both men and women. The first question normally asked about a newborn " Is it a boy or a girl?” they have enormous implications because the answer does not refer only to the sex but to the general direction that the baby's future life will take. In reality, gender socialization begins even before birth. Thus, on the one hand, women are expected to be sweet and affectionate, good mothers, to take care of the home. Certain professions are outside of their permissible field. However, men must always be strong and hard and financial providers.

Kerbo (1994) refer to gender as the socially constructed definition of what it mean to be female or male. Sex and gender are two separate terms. Sex refers to the biological characteristics. However, gender is completely different. Gender is socially constructed not biological. For example many times when a baby is born male, others would say things like he’s going to be strong or aggressive. These behaviors are usually associated with male characteristics. Society places different types of behaviors, roles and expectations on females and males.